Ball valve and method of producing same



5. R. BROWNE BALL VALVE AND METE IOD 0F PRODUCING SAME Filed Aug. 24,1922 venlor 1 fikaax'i' P. B 10/10 Atlorney Patented Get. 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES STEWART It. BROWNE, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BALL VALVE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME.

Application filed August 24, 1922. Serial No. 583,988.

17 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEWART R. BROWNE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings,

city and State of New York, have invented pecially directed to valves ofthe so-calledball type, which are employed in pumps and similarapparatus.

Heretofore, valves of the specific type referred to have been made ofvarious metals, such as aluminum, brass, zinc, steel, etc, and variousmetal alloys. They have been of a solid or hollow construction, in somecases being formed by uniting two semi-spheres. Owing to the inherentcharacteristics of the difierent metals employed in the production ofthese valves, and the contraction and expansion thereof, they have beenfound to be unsatisfactory for the extreme service con ditions underwhich they are designed to operate. For instance, corrosion andcatalytic action materially shorten their period of usefulness. Therelatively short life of these metal ball valves renders it necessary tomake frequent replacements involving not only the expense of providingnew valves, but in disassembling the apparatus in which they are usedwith the consequent loss in service during the time required for makingthe new installation. Further, in many types of pumping apparatus, suchfor example as those employed in the oil indus try, the tendency of themetal ball valves to vibrate or chatter on their seats and sluggishlyrespond to the pressure changes, is a serious detriment to thesuccessful and economical operation of the apparatus.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a ball valvefor pumps and other forms of apparatus in which such valves may be usedwhich will overcome the aforesaid disadvantages of the metal ballvalves, thereby greatly increasing the efiiciency and durability of theapparatus in which my invention is employed.

Another object or" my invention is to provide a ball valve having theaforesaid characteristics, which will be of a relatively lightconstruction and will not be affected by those chemical actions whichimpair the efficiency of, and quickly render useless, the metal types ofball valves.

My invention further comprehends a nonmetallic ball valve of aconstruction which may be readily installed in apparatus designed toemploy metal ball valves without altering the construction of suchapparatus, or which may be incorporated in new apparatus, and effect aconsiderable saving in operating cost and maintenance, a valve made inaccordance with my invention quickly responding to pressure changes inthe apparatus and positively functioning under the most extreme andvariable conditions of operation to which valves of the ball type may besubiected in use.

Other objects and advantages of my improved ball valve will presentthemselves as the description proceeds, and I would have it understoodthat I reserve unto myself all rights to the full range of equivalentsboth in structure and uses to which I may be entitled under myinvention, as defined by the appended claims.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, I have elected to illustrateand describe one embodiment of my invention and the preferred method ofproducing the same. My invention, however, may take other forms and thesteps in the method of producing the same may be changed or variedwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

In the accompanying Fig. 1 is a view in rspective of a block section ofmaterial I om which my improved type of ball valves are produced.

Fig. 2 illustrates a complete valve formed from the material shown inFig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a valve cage of a pump or similarapparatus showing a valve made in accordance with my invention on itsseat within the cage.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, in which like characters ofreference are employed to designate similar parts in the sev eral views,7 indicates a rectangular block or bar of fibrous material which ispreferably built up or composed of a plurality of layers or laminationsof cotton not: or the like, united by means of an adhesive sub stance.For example, in the production of the said bar or block 7., a plurality01' sheets of the fibrous material are impregnated with a phenolcondensation product or other suitable adhesive substance. They are thendrawings Lei) EEO

-' the extreme hardn faced objects.

super-imposed to produce apile or stack of the -requisite thickness andcompacted by a pressure approximating .one thousand (1,000) pounds tothe square inch, the mass being cured at a temperature of about threehundred (300) degrees Fahrenheit. As the pressure is apphed to thematerial, the adhesive substance exudes from between the laminations.sufiiciently to provide a continuous coating for the outer edges of thesheets thereby positively preventing the en'- trance of moisture orfluid between the component layers. This is especially true where theadhesive is a phenolic condensation product which, when submitted topressure and heat, is transformed-into a hard, infusible and relativelyinsoluble substance.

When the sheets have been made into a homogeneous mass, as justdescribed, thebars or blocks-,7- are cut therefrom, these bars or blocksbeing then subdivided to produce a plurality of cubes 8, each of whichis suitable for the production. of a single ball valve of a given sizeor diameter. 0bviously, for the production of cubes of difierent sizes,the number. of layers of fi-' brous material used in making the massmust be increased or decreased,. as may be re-.

quired I The final operation or step in the method of producing a ballvalve according to my invention, consists in turning the cube 8 a by anysuitable method or mechanism such,

for mstance, as is employed in the production of billiard balls andsimilar hard sur- Te 'llustrate' the dimensions of a cube for a ball ofgiven diameter, I have shown in Fig.'-2 a ball 9 which has been turnedfrom a piece or cube of the dimensions of that indicated by. thereference numeral 8, the outline of the cube being dotted;

A ball valve made in accordance. with my invention may be employed asheretofore set forth, under any and all conditions wherein metallic ballvalves of the present types are used. Furthermore, by reason of of thefabricated mamoisture and practically immune from inby extremetemperatures or from chemi add 1 action, my lmproved ball valve inactual practice" has been found to flmction with thamostsatisfactoryresults under conditions where tne'usual metallic ball valves havefailed or have proven inefiicient.

An example of installation of my ball yalve 1s shp'wn in Fig. .3, thevalve 9 restmg upon its seat 10 within the cage or guard 11. It wlll benoted that the seat 10 18 of the usual configuration employed inengineering practice for ball valves so that it will be obvious'that myvalve is susceptible of use without alteration of any existreference tocertain specific materials and steps, it will be understood that I donot limit myselfto. the method of production herein described as it ismanifest that the material from which my valve is produced may be madein other ways, my Invention being directed to a ball valve produced fromfibrous material which is treated to render ,it extremely hard and notsusceptible-to those influences which cause. rapid deterioration of ballvalves of the 'metallic type.

What is claimed is:

1. A ball valve formed of a material composed of layers of fabric'inseparably united under pressure. I

2. As an article 'of'manufacture a ball valve formed of a materialcomposed of layers of fabric united by an adhesive substance andsubjected to pressure and cured at a temperature to produce ahomogeneous mass from which said ball valve is turned. 3. A method ofmaking a ball valve which consists in superimposing a plurality oflayers of fabric impregnated with an adhesive substance, then applyingpressure thereto and curing at a temperature to inseparably unite saidsheets and produce a hard non-resilient material which is imperviou's tomoisture, then cutting from the mass pieces of the requisite dimensionsfor the formation of a ball from each thereof,

and then turning each of said pieces to produce a ball.

4. A ball valve formed from a laminated fibrous material treated torender the same impervious to moisture, and resistant to chemicalaction;

5. A ball valve turned from a cube of material produced b 'inseparablyuniting layers of fabric byt e application of pressaid blanks. v

STEWART R. BROWNE.

